The First Look at Joaquin Phoenix in His Joker Makeup Is No Laughing Matter

Warner Bros. aren’t joking around here. Rather than wait to debut Joaquin Phoenix’s new Joker — who will star in his very own solo movie next year — at a big comic book convention or in a trailer they’ve unveiled his look today, out of nowhere, just as shooting on the movie is getting underway.

Director Todd Phillips posted a video to Instagram labeled as a “camera test.” It shows Phoenix as “Arthur,” his version of Batman’s most notorious enemy. As the camera zooms in we get flashes of a clown superimposed over his face. And then it gives way to the whole look in all its demented, ghoulish glory. Take a look:

Here’s a screengrab for your perusal:

Warner Bros.

Obviously, this is a very different Joker than each of the previous incarnations. Jack Nicholson went for the classic comic-book look: Purple suit, bright green hair, massive, permanent smile. Then Heath Ledger blew that Joker out of the water with his messy, dirty, heavily scarred version. Most recently we got Jared Leto doing ... uh, whatever it was that he was doing. That Joker had porcelain white skin, one purple rubber glove and tons of tattoos — including a big one that said “Damaged” across his forehead. Phoenix’s Arthur looks much more like an actual clown, albeit one that would probably kill you if you didn’t laugh at his jokes.

Joker opens in theaters on October 4, 2019. It’s going to be a ha-ha-Halloween next year.